Old East African beaded drinking vessel The whole structure has been

The whole structure has been mounted on a black wooden base

The hat is made for a small head and has an inside diameter of about 17cm

The most exquisite and important of all royal ceremonial costumes is bwaantshy

The colour and patina of the bones show that this is an old example

In the tree behind is a possum and the moon or sun is picked out in deeper carving as a white disk

Old East African beaded drinking vessel The whole structure has beenThis is an interesting item. It is an old beaded drinking vessel made from leather and wood. It looks to be East African, possible Maasai in origin and is certainly very old. The lower half of the vessel is wood with a wide band of leather very finely stitched onto the top. Looking from the inside, it appears that the stitching is so fine that it is waterproof. The whole thing has been painted with what looks to be red ochre with two black rectangles